Woven carrier.



F. B; BATCHELDER.

WOVEN CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. I916.

\ 1,21 1,276. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

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F; n. BATCHELDER.

WOVEN GARNER APPLICATION FILED JUNE 3. I916.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

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FRANK R. BATOI-IELDER, F WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

WOVEN CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1917.

Application filed June 3, 1916. Serial No. 101,639.

To all whomz't may concern:

Be it known that I FRANK R. BATOHEL- DERftt citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, in'the county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts, have inventeda certain new and usefullmprovement in Woven Carriers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention is a' division vof that formin the Subject of my application for United -tates patent for improvements in woven carriers, fi led May 23, 1916, Serial No. 99,322. r

It has relation to pocketed :carriers made of woven material, namely. carriers on the order of those which-are used for holding and carrying cartridges, packaged first-aid supplies, etc.

Among the pocketed carriers to which the invention is applicable are comprised cartridge carriers, hospital corps belts, medical otlicers belts, and others having various special adaptations.

More particularly, the invention relates to the'covers which are provided in connection with the pockets of carriers of the said general class.

Carriers of the general class in question, made of flexible woven material and known sometimes as woven'c'arriers,"have been provided heretofore with cover-flaps made of flexible woven material. Almost invariably,

however, the ordinary pocket cover or flap has been a mere strip of web, pointed, equipped with a fastener, and arranged to be drawn from back toffront over themouth or opening of the pocket. This form of cover has not constituted a complete'closure for the opening of the pocket, but on the contrary has left it possible for water to enter between the cover and the lateral edges of the pocket; also for dust-to penetrate easily into'the pocket while troops are on the march; and also for cartridges or similar small objects to become 'lostfrom the pocket, particularly withmounted troops on the trot, or when-the wearervof the carrier is-lyingdown.

None of the flaps or covers ofwoven material employed up to the present time meets satisfactorily the purposes of'my bread or generic invention presented in the parent application aforesaid, in {respect of being capable of. affording --comp lete protection to theucont-ents ofa pocket as well as safeguarding effectually against accidental escape of such contents, and in other respects. So far as I am aware, it never has been perceived heretofore how to makeout of woven material an efiective and practical cover which will thus meet the said purposes. Woven fabric is not as well adapted as leather to be made up and used in cut, shaped, andstitched form, and accordingly only simple forms of cover-flaps such as referred to above have been employed in connection with the carriers aforesaid. Notwithstanding that these simple forms of cover-flaps afford only incompleteor inadequate protection, nothing better has entered into use.v On the other hand, woven material has been found better than'leather in difierent practical respects for use in the case of pocketed carriers, for instance as regards durability and capaclty to withstand climatic condltlons, and by reason of its greater flexibility, It can be produced of greater strength with less weight, and of greater uniformity in strength and other tive flexibility of woven material is at one and the same time both an advantage and a disadvantage or drawback, the disadvantage or drawback residing in the fact that woven pockets do not have the requ1s1te stiffness to enable them to retain definite shapes accurately. Another disadvantage or drawback is that the cut edges of Woven material are objectionable. They fray and present projecting and loose ends of threads,

unless they are bound with tape or webbing or turned or folded in. When out margins are united by stitches, the seams do not hold reliably unless the material is turned or folded over upon itself, in which case the bulkiness of the two or more thicknesses comprised in a folded-over portion frequently is objectionable and undesirable The-invention has for its general object theproduction of a practical improved flexible cover which shall afford complete protection for the contents of the pocket with which it is combined, by effectually excluding moisture, mud, sand and dust; which the case of a cartridge carrier) and which shall be of a construction enabling the drawbacks or disadvantages of woven material, above referred to, to be avoided or properly taken care of.

The invention provides a woven carrier comprising a body-web and a woven pocket projecting from the face of the said web,

with a cover comprising a hood of flexible material, flexibly united with the back of the pocket, having a front which extends down in front of the front wall of the said pocket, and having side-skirts which extend down alongside the sides of the pocket, and prevent the existence of openings at the opposite sides of the closed and covered pocket. The top of the hood-like cover embodying the invention has a well-defined rectangularity and an area corresponding with the cross-section of the filled pocket, and the side-skirts form well-defined angles" with the said top.

V The present inventionconsists, more specifically, in a hood-like cover comprising a strip of flexible material which is secured by its rear. end at the back of the pocket, its intermediate portion constituting thetop of the said cover, and its forward portion constituting one thickness of thejfront of the cover," and a transverse strip having an intermediate portion constituting a second thickness of the cover front, and end-pertions which constitute side-wings or skirts of the cover.

.A pocket cover madein conformity with the invention. constitutes a complete covering and protectionagainst the entrance of water, dust, etc., and againstthe escape of small objects contained in the pocket. It is especially serviceable and useful in the case of belts carrying hospital corps supplies, these supplies frequently including packets of gauze thinly. wrapped in muslin or paper, and. similar first-aid and medical packages. It is useful also where troops are required to carry paper boxes or cartons containing clips as packed at the cartridge-making factory. For instance, it is deslred in some countries to issue to troops sealed cartons which are not to be opened except'when firing orders are given. The cartons are of light paper and if exposed to the weather speedily become softened or weakened'and broken. 'By means of a pocket cover made according to my invention, effective-protection is afforded in these diiferentcases V In the drawings,Figure 1;is a front view of a short section of a hospital corps belt, showing one of the pockets thereof as when filled with packages, and having the hood like cover thereof closeddown" in place and fastened. Fig. 2 is a view of the same from the left-hand side in Fig. 1'. Fig.3 is atop is from sidef' to side.

of stitches are close to and parallel with flexible woven material, and are produced integral with each other by proper proce- "dure in weaving. Only one pocket is shown in each instance, and when desired a carrier may consist of or be provided with but a single pocket, although usually in practice a carrier is furnished with a plurality of pockets. The invention is applicable in either case. The pocket is represented in the different views, by way of illustration, as filled and expanded by packages 3, 3, such as commonly contain the supplies that are furnished to the hospital corps. The filled pocket in these instances is substantially rectangular in cross-section.

In the case of each embodiment shown herein the cover is secured in place in proper relations with the pocket by means of a rearward extension 4 from the top of the cover. This extension is made fast in some approved manner at the back of the pocket. Preferably it is inserted. into a housing slit provided in the upper portion of web 1, as shown in'the drawings, in which slit it is secured in practice by means of stitches or other convenient fastenings. The said housing slit is of the character of the housing slits shown, described and claimed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,139,629, granted to me under date of. May 18, 1915. Its employment is preferred but is not indispensable.

The cover'is composed of two strips of fastened together in this instance by lines of stitches 19, 19, andj19, 19", Fig. 1.v

Lines 19, 19, are close to and parallel with the side-edges of the strip that 7 extends from front to -rear, such strip being a little wider than the filled pocket The lines 19, 19,

the top andbottom edges of the transverse strip. Other lines of 'stitches may be applied, and other or additional means for seiso,

curing the two strips together may be employed. The end-portions of the transverse strip are bent at right angles at the opposite sides of the other strip to produce the sidewings or skirts 7, 7. The top-edges of the wings or skirts are united to the side-edges of the cover-top by lines of stitches 70, 70, Figs. 2 and 5, or other connecting means. The free end of the strip extending from front to rear is folded back upon itself and stitched to produce the pointed end of the cover-front, and the free ends of the side wing portions of the transverse strip are folded back upon themselves, or hemmed, as shown at 71, to hide and protect cut or raw edges at the back edges of the wings or skirts and to give smooth and firm edges that will not fray or ravel.

The top 5 of the coverrmade as just explained has a well-defined rectangularity closely corresponding in area and general proportions with the horizontal cross section of the filled and expanded pocket. The side-wings or skirts and front form well-definedangles with the said top, and the sidewings or skirts form welldefined angles with the front. Thus the cover has and retains a shape corresponding with that of the filled and expanded pocket. When it is closed down into place as in Figs. 1, 2 and 8 it constitutes a complete protecting hood for the pocket. As will be seen in the said views, the skirts or side-wings 7 7 close in the spaces at opposite sides of the top of the pocket so that there are no openings such as exist at those places when the old style cover-flaps are employed. The entrance of rain, snow, sand, mud, or other matter at such places is prevented, and small articles contained within a pocket cannot escape.

Fastening means is provided in practice for the purpose of holding the cover or hood securely closed. The drawings show means of usual character comprising a stud 11 applied to and projecting from the front wall of the pocket, and a cooperating socket 12 applied to the front of the cover or hood.

Preferably, though not necessarily in all cases, strips of webbing woven of the proper width, with firm woven selvages, are employed in the construction of the cover or hood, thereby rendering unnecessary any folding or hemming of the longitudinal edges of such strips and avoiding bulkiness of the securing seams. In such case, the

side edges of the cover top and both the top and the bottom edges of the side-wings or skirts are selvage edges. 1

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 6, the construction resembles that shown in Figs. 1 to 5, except that at the outset the transverse strip is considerably longer than that of the latter views, and in making the cover such strip has its end-portions doubled back upon the intermediate portion thereof so as to produce wings or skirts 7 7 which are of two thicknesses. The extremities of the said doubled-back end-portions are inserted between the intermediate portion of such strip and the forward endportion of the other strip, and thus are concealed within the thickness of the cover-front. The two thicknesses of the transverse strip are held together along their lower edges by stitches. The back edges 7 7 of the wings or skirts are constituted by the folds of the transverse strip.

WVhat is claimed as the invention is,

1. A woven carrier having a pocket, and a hoodlike cover therefor comprising a strip of flexible material which is secured by its rear end at the back of the pocket, its intermediate portion constituting the cover-top and its forward portion consituting one thickness of the cover-front, and a transverse strip having an intermediate portion constituting a second thickness of the cover front and end portions constituting side-wings or skirts of the cover.

7 2. A'woven carrier having a pocket, and a hood-like cover therefor comprising a selvaged woven strip which is secured by its rear end at the back of the pocket, its intermediate portion constituting the top of the cover and its forward portion constituting one thickness of the front of the cover, and a transverse selvaged woven strip having an intermediate portion constituting a second thickness of the cover-front and end-portions which constitute side-wings or skirts of the cover, the two thicknesses of the cover-front fastened together and the top-edges of the side-wings or skirts fastened to the side-edges of the cover-top.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK R. BATCHELDER.

Witnesses:

CHAS. F. RANDALL, EUGENE A. SIssoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

